BOSTON, Mass. – Freshman Evan Schmidbauer's (San Diego, Calif.) goal with 8:50 remaining in the third period held up as the game winner as the Salve Regina University men's ice hockey team held off a late charge by Wentworth for a 3-2 win in ECACECAC Northeast action at Walter Brown Arena.
Winners of two straight the Seahawks improve to 7-8-2 overall and 5-3-0 in ECAC Northeast play while the Leopards see their two-game win streak come to an end, falling to 8-8-2 (3-3-1)
Both teams rung the post in the opening period, but neither side could find the back of the net. Salve Regina held a 9-2 shot advantage through the first 20:00 of play.
The second period was offensively even, as each side scored a goal off eight shots on net. Salve Regina struck first, 3:42 into the period when sophomore Parker Bowen (Pembroke, Mass.) scored in front of the net to put the Seahawks up 1-0. With 3:33 remaining in the period, freshman Erik Andersson (Madison, N.J.) tied the game in from of the net with help from junior Adam Frank (Clarkston, Mich.).
Salve Regina recaptured the lead at 3:34 of the third period when junior Cam Gaudet (Burlington, Mass.) scored his fifth goal of the season to put the Seahawks up 2-1 off assists from senior Michael Naso (Londonderry, N.H.) and junior Peter Gintoli (Monroe, Conn.). Schmidbauer netted his fourth of the season to extend the lead to 3-1 with 8:50 remaining after taking a feed from junior Marc Biggs (Plano, Texas).
Wentworth looked to make the comeback, as junior Mike Cox (Marlborough, Mass.) scored a redirect goal from senior Ben Iwanowski (Dorval, Que.) with just over two minutes left to play. The Leopards pulled junior goalie Joel Miller (Calgary, Alta.) in the final minute for an extra attacker, however could not get the equalizer.
Sophomore Alexander Devine (Hampton, N.H.) made 12 saves while Miller made 18 stops. Salve Regina held a 21-14 shot advantage for the contest and were not called for any penalties while going 0-for-2 on the power play.
The Seahawks host Suffolk on Thursday night. That same night the Leopards are at Johnson & Wales.